Wilson Combat EDC X9 Review by Dagaz - a Tribesman and Navy Veteran

Disclaimer: There is no professional, financial, or other relationship between Odins Warrior Tribe and Wilson Combat or its subsidiaries. This review has not been requested by the manufacturer or any other stake of interest.

Weapon Specifications:

                Caliber: 9mm

                Capacity: 15 or 18 (magazine dependent) or 10 if you live in an anti-2A state

                Full aluminum frame, with precision machining to match the slide

                Wilson Combat proprietary “X-Tac” grip treatment to front/backstrap

                Concealment friendly “Bulletproof” hammer

                “Bullet Proof” thumb safety (right hand dominant)

                3.5-4.5 pound trigger pull

                Starburst grips with Wilson medallion. (Stock color is black, other colors available)

                4” stainless steel slide with external extractor

                “X-Tac” grip serrations on the slide

                Adjustable rear-sight with fiber optic front sight

                Fluted chamber

                Fluted barrel

                Barrel Length: 3.25”

                Overall Length: 6.75”

Weight: 27.6 ounces empty

Cost from manufacturer: $3,307

My first exposure to Wilson Combat as a company was when I was stationed in Southern Maryland. A local FFL recommended me to their custom work relationship with Sig Sauer and the Wilson Combat/Sig P320. What Wilson did is a few things here. Sig sends Wilson barrels and blank slides, Gray Guns supplies the Fire Control Unit, and Wilson has a custom grip pressed. Long end, short, the performance of this pistol compared to what I’ve had with a “normal” sig was next level. I’m not here to review that pistol, just to highlight that Wilson Combat, as a company is about quality. They don’t only improve existing brands; they also make their own weapon systems. Their pistols, such as the EDC X9 are second to none in my simplest opinion.

                In 2021 I decided to pick up the X9, kind of on impulse. I wanted to give the pistol a try out of curiosity, and after running that trigger, I was completely hooked. The thing to keep in mind here is you cannot compare striker-fire and 1911-style triggers against each other. Their functionalities are just too different. There is absolutely no slop in the trigger uptake for the first stage, and the second stage, the break is so crisp and clean to the shot, you’re going to make your shot (in line with your skill.) The reset on the trigger is just as clean. I could not feel any mechanical difference from reset to set for the next shot. You may recall from the stats that this trigger is comparatively light, so learning this gun and training with it, this tool will allow you to enhance your performance well past what you think you can do.

                This is where the weight of the pistol is in its favor from my experience. If you’re used to modern striker-fire designs such as the Sig P365 weighing in at 18 ounces, adding nearly 10 ounces before loading may sound a bit much. The weight of the pistol allows less felt recoil, better recoil control, easier to stay on target, and faster follow up shots; as we know with defensive shooting scenarios, volume of rounds on target is the most efficient way to stop a threat.

                This pistol quickly became my choice for concealed carry. Now I can already hear your reaction “What are you thinking?! Why would you carry a three-thousand-dollar gun?!?” Well, to answer that, after approximately 3 years of owning the X9, carrying fairly regularly*, and putting a few thousand rounds through it, it boils down to two things for me.

First is Reliability. The intent of CCW is last-resort, and when all options fail, that last resort better work, and needs to work every time. I have literally NEVER had a failure, malfunction, or jam with the X9, and that’s to include a fair amount of neglect on my end, for example ~1.5-2k rounds without cleaning, and carrying regularly. This was done by intent, to test its resilience, and didn’t even phase it.

Second is this: A weapon like this has a singular purpose. That purpose is to defend [my] life. There is a common misconception that, even when used in a defensive shooting, you’ll never see that gun again. This is not necessarily true. In some jurisdictions, if the case for defense is that cut and dry, it’ll be immediately returned. It could be held for a short time for investigation but will be returned. If its not returned, that means I would have majorly screwed up somewhere, and I have MUCH bigger issues than not getting a pistol returned. Regardless, that’s all fluff. Ask yourself these questions. “How much is my life worth?” “How much is my family's life worth?” is it over the cost of the pistol you carry? Then in my opinion, it's well worth it to carry the best tool that has the best chance of functioning perfectly every time regardless of the environment or situation. There are plenty of brands and models of firearms out there that simply do not meet that metric.  

Is there anything that I’m not a fan of with this gun? Well, some of the things that make this weapon so fantastic to shoot can make it a bit inconvenient for a carry gun. Most notably is the weight. If you’re used to carrying a modern striker-fire pistol, this will become extremely noticeable to you by the weight. You may even find yourself having to adjust a bit more. The “footprint” is about the same as a comparable “carry” sized pistol, but 1.6 times the weight. Additionally, the mechanical function of the trigger of a 2011 style requires a manual safety. Striker-fire mechanisms by design allow for integral, internal safeties, similarly the trigger functionality can implement more of these features. Having a manual safety can be a bit annoying at times, especially if it’s something with which you haven’t trained. Between training, and simply carrying, these will be considerations you won’t even notice.

Another unfortunate truth when we start talking about these high-end pistol brands such as Wilson Combat, Staccato, and so on, it means there are less on the market. What this translates to is a challenge to find certain accessories. Where I ran into issue was holsters. I’ve had no issue finding a holster for the EDC sans weapon mounted light; however I’m a firm believer that a good WML is necessary for a carry gun. These holster options went from limited to essentially zero extremely quickly. For CCW, I didn’t have much issue thanks to the company PHLSTER, as they have a holster that is “universal” for the pistol, and the Kydex molding and stabilization is actually around the weapon’s light. OWB/Duty style has zero such (quality) options essentially. I ended up getting a custom-made holster for my combination of the X9 with TLR1-HL from a company called KT-Mech. (they do fantastic work. Their website is awkward, but they’re legit.)

Now, am I over here recommending that you go out and drop three thousand on a pistol for EDC? Or otherwise insinuating that your choice such as Glock et al. are bad choices or will fail? Definitely not. Glock, among many other manufacturers have stellar reputations, and it is indeed reasonable/guaranteed to believe they will perform when they need to. This is demonstrated by their service history. Several members of the tribe carry Glock for service and in harm's way.  We are fans! That being said, will it perform as well as, or approach that of, a high-end 2011 style pistol for other reasons - on the range - target? Not without custom work and then maybe not quite. The mechanical difference between how these two weapon platforms make it essentially impossible for a striker-fire to match the same trigger performance of, for example the EDC/SFX line of Wilson Combat.